Many thanks

I want to say many thanks to everyone who commented or gave me advice in our blogs, but a special thanks to Michelle:

I know that I have told you this multiple times, but your blog assignments are always so fun to read. Not only are they informative but they are fun to look at. I love the visual affects that you use and the information that you work so hard to find. I wish you the best in the future no matter the path you take.
TIFFANY

I also want to wish everyone the best of luck in the early childhood adventures, no matter which path you are breaking off into now. I hope that this journey has been as memorable for you as it has me.

Saying good-bye

I have been involved in many groups in my years and have usually found it very easy to say good-bye. I have had some people that it has been difficult to part with but overall it has been relativly easy to part ways. I have had a few that it was difficult to say good-bye to. I was involved in 4-H for over 10 years and when i was too old to participate, it was difficult to step away from the aspect of filling my summers with camps, projects and a thousand other activties that used to occupy my time. I decided that i would be a 4-H leader to still be involved with the program and the children that I had seen come in and join since I had been in the program. That idea only lasted about a year, the feeling was just not the same and didnt allow me the freedom and creativity that I had always been involved with.
When I left my sorority, after graduation, there were a few girls that I was sad to see go and others that i couldnt get away from fast enough. When I graduated fromo my undergrad I cried as I knew a big part of my life was ending and would never be the same again.
As far as leaving the team I have started at Walden i believe it will be an easy transition, only because this has been an online experience and I have not had the priviledge of getting to know my classmates on a one on one basis. There is one in particular that I will miss blogging with, she has been a great inspiration to me and has given me many good ideas that I have used and will continue to use in my daily life, Thank you to Stacie Smith!!

A solution to the problem

I am currently having an issue at work with my co-teacher, and no matter the strategey I use to try and communicate with her, it seems that the information is "in one ear and out the otehr." I believe that we simply have two very different teaching styles and that in order for us to work with this, we will have to do our lessons separate. I have communicated with her through email, (she is a BIG emailer), and I have tried to speak with her face to face. I have learned to "suck it up" and just go with the flow as it makes the work area much calmer. My stress level is at an all time high and when I get off of work I am spent for the day.
According to the website, The Thirdside, I may want to take a step back and think about the points that she has that are correct or make sense and apply to the situation. I need to not always assume that I am right and she is wrong, which honestly I think I do a pretty good job at.

The Thirdside. (2012). Retrieved from http://www.thirdside.org/skills.cfm

My communication

I have thought of myself as a good communicator. I know that I have downfalls and areas that need to be worked on but I also know that I am able to communicate with anyone when the time calls for it. I know that there certain types of communication that I need to use with certain people and at certain times. My co-workers, as well as friends have all labeled me to be a sarcastic person and in a way that bothers me but I konw it is true. I know that I need to watch when I am using my sarcasism. I often use sarcasm as a defense mechanism if i believe there is something wrong and that is not the professional way to handle certain situations. I have learned that communication is EVERYWHERE. whether you realize it or not simply driving by someone yoiu are communicating. Your body language or what you are doing in your car can "say" a lot about you, and your facial expressions are the tell all about how you are feeling at any given point in time. These are all things that I see in other people but am not as aware when it comes to myself.

The surveys pinned me right on the head:
they claimed I was an empathetic listener, which I woudl completely agree with. they also said that I was a fair communicator when it came to  verbal aggressiveness, and that I Shy away from certain situations and am very comfortable in others when communicating. Yes I'd say I was pleasently surprised. What makes it better is that when I had others take the survey they scored it the same way.

communicating with diversity

I do indeed find myself communicating differently, depending on the person I am talking to. I know that at work, as I have said before, we have many parents that are from other countries and speak broken english or ask for things that are different from the norm. This is when I show extra attention and speak in a tone that is very respectful and soothing. When I am talking with myco-workers it depends on who they are and how close we are. My family is whole other issue in itself. With my Mother I do not communicate with her in any different manner than I woudl with my friends. I sadly have a sailor's mouth around my friends and that is the way I am with my Mother. With the rest of my family I speak to them as they are my family. I am polite as possible but do not hold back, or sugar coat anything. The situation really depends on how I change my style of communication. At work I communicate with the children by using a stern yet soft voice if they are misbehvaing, or if the children are acting as they should, I use a tone that is upbeat and fun but on their level. I never talk above a child and do not talk down to them as though they are lesser than I.

"house"

I know that the assignment said to watch a show you do not normally watch, but it has been years since I have watch "House" I thought it would be fun to watxh with the sound off.  I watched the show in silence and the non-verbal communication that goes on on that show is amazing. If you did not have subtitles or sound you would think that House was MAD all the time. The way his body movements were when he was talking with patients and especialy with his crew of Dr.s lead you to eblieve that he is always angry. His facial expressions show sarcasim and disrespect. The funny thing about this show is this is really how House talks, his non-verbal vs. his verbal are very similar. The other Dr.s of the show are not as easy to read. Their movements were not as revealing as House's. I had a coulple of "aha" moments once I turned the sound back on and paid attention to the other Dr.s. I noticed that one of the Dr.s look like she was sad and misserable, when infact she was just having a moment when she was discussing a medical term with the patient. People's body language can be very tricky to read. I am glad in a way that I watch a show that i was somewhat familiar with, like I said I have not seen it in years, but What i thought I knew about these characters was completely off when I coudl not hear what they were saying.

A communicator I'd like to model

I would love to be able to communicate in ways similar to my mother-in-law. The woman is very professional when need be, but down home when the time is right. She is ver eloquent with her words and knows just how to place them in order. She can take the same sentence and twist it from a complement to an insult in no time. She has the greatest mannerisms in her words.
Another person that I would like to be able to communicate like ONLY IN SOME WAYS, is my own mother. My mom has a mouth on her, Not that I woudl like to show my colors in front of everyone, but when the time is right my mother can lay one on you and not think twice about it. My mother is the one who answers the phone when those dinner time advertisors call to interupt and try to sell yoiu somethig. She has no problem giving them a quick peace of mind and then hanging up. I am too nice of a person I will stay on the phone and say no thank you 20 times before they get the hint and finally give up on me. If I could combine those two talents i think I coudl be a very good communicator.

Hope is in the air

One hope that I can think of for myself, when it comes to working with children and families from diverse backgrounds, is that I can learn as much as I can about them. I want to be able to understand the roles of the children within the family, the Dad, the Mom, and if the Grandparents live with them... Things like this are important to understand. This way when a project comes up in school and we "assume" that the Moms do something and the Dads do another, it may be very different to some children, and I want to be able to understand that. on a side note I woudl love and hope that one day I coudl learn a few languages, even if just a few words, to better communicate. I speak very broken Spanish but it is enough to talk to someone and be polite.

A hope for the Early childhood commuinty would be that we learn to look at the children for who they are and not what we assume about them. An example is that I have a child in class now that truly is a mean child, but I assumed that he had a bad background and that his Mom was doing nothing to get on bored to help his behavior, but infact she has contacted a trauma center for counseling and is trying to work with him on his behavior. This is something that the entire community needs to try and work on. Simply because we do not know, doesnt mean we shouldnt ask. Don't be afraid to ask the parent about the child or even talk to the child, and ask them what goes on at home that they think this behavior is ok? Who else acts like this? We need to see the beautiful child that resides within all of them no matter their behavior on the outside.

And finally a truly big thanks to all who have read and commented on any of my post, you have brought some new questions to my mind and have made me look at some issues in a different way.
THANK YOU!!!!

Origins

• The name of “your” family’s country of origin

I am going to choose France as my country of origin for my family.

• At least five ways in which you will prepare yourself to be culturally responsive towards this family

     I know that many French traditions and gatherings revolve around food. I will brush up on some french cuisine and possibly incorporate that into a lesson that is in the near future to make that child feel more welcome and at home.
    Many people in France attach themselves to their values, it is what makes them, them. I will be more prepared will some of their customs as far as introducing myself or how they react to redirection to bad behvaior.
     I could incorporate that idea that the french are very ettiquette focused. We could have that be apaprt of our daily meals that we do at the center.
     The french are very open people as far as physical contact. They hug and shake hands much more frequent than the Americans do.
      I will encourage group exchange within the classroom, the French highly regaurd the idea socialization they believe taht a child's peer socialization is just as important as the adult socialization. 

• A brief statement describing in what ways you hope that these preparations will benefit both you and the family

I hope that by brushing up on some French words and by having at least a basic idea of the culture I can welcome the new child and family with open arms and have no offense anywhere. I hope that by being an open person in general and by using all of my early childhood edcation skills along with a basic understanding in French culture that We will have a great start, middle and end to a relationship.

Personal side of Bias...

• What memory do you have of an incident when you experienced bias, prejudice, and/or oppression, or witnessed someone else as the target of bias, prejudice, and/or oppression? Keep in mind that one can encounter such incidents in real contexts, including online environments, as well as in fictional ones, such as movies, books, television shows, and the like.

I know that in my life I have experienced all of these things but not to the extent that I have witnessed it being done to others. I was in my classroom and it was the end of the day when parents were picking up and it was very chaotic. I was speaking with a parent who was African American about her child's day and some of the things that happen that day. At the same time I had a white parent want to speak with me as well, thinking we were all grown ups I thought that we would all be pateient and wait our turns. The white parent sent a shock of anger and complete amazement down my spine. She butted into the conversation and was very rude. When I said one moment I will be right with you, she looked at the African American woman and said," it's not like she works, she can wait until I am done, I have places to go." I honestly would have let the other woman start a physical encounter and not said a word at that point. At that point I turned my back to the white woman and finished my conversation with the other woman as tnhough nothing had happen. I then went to my administrators and spoke with them about the incident and it was settled amongst them. I was so shocked that I did not know how to react or what to do that was not out of anger.

• In what way(s) did the specific bias, prejudice and/or oppression in that incident diminish equity?

This left the African American woman feeling absolutely terrible I am sure. I know that in that incident both women lost part of their dignity. The white woman obviously thought that she had more right to speak than the other woman and that the "race" of African Americans do not work, when in fact that woman was a Doctor at the hospital she was also employed at.

• What feelings did this incident bring up for you?

This incident brought feelings of complete rage and embarassment for myself and my entire race. I was so shocked and appauled that this woman would think this thought more or less say it aloud. The rage I felt and wanted to take out on that woman was indescribable!

• What and/or who would have to change in order to turn this incident into an opportunity for greater equity?

The white woman woudl have to take a step back and not allow herself to think in such a manner that was so degrading to others. The African American woman coudl have stopped and in her very professional manner I have seen her have explained that she was a doctor and that she did work and also had things that she had to do that evening. I think this would have made the white woman feel a little more in her place of being just as equal as any other race.

Perspectives on diversity and culture

I asked three people about culture and diversity. I ask one male co-worker, one female co-worker, and a friend who is of a different race than I.

My male co-worker, Jimmie, stated that culture is the need to historically analyze and preserve the traditions of the past.

He also wrote that diversity is the ability to respect, understand, and harbor multiple viewpoints, opinions, and cultures, to better enrich a community.

These statements I agree with. The statements were very forward and I agree that diversity can better a community, i never thought of it that way but it could bring people together in a sense.

Another co-worker who is of Indian decent stated that culture is a group or family of people generaly from the same geographic location.

To me this is a little too broad, but goes to show that not everyone knows what culture is about.

Her definition of diversity was people from different backgrounds, geographically, financially, etc, with their own traditions.

This definition was a little more specific and seemed to beeter suit what I was expecting.

The last person I asked about this was a young lady who is only 19 years old and has had no college training. I was interested to see what her response was.

Culture is traditions habits, foods, and ways of living, following certain rituals/religion in day to day life.

Very good, not what I was expecting.

Diversity is people from differnet cultures, that are in the same community, it can be called diversity.

This is true but not exactly what I was asking. I'm glad she tried though.

microaggression observations

I have actually been witness to this type of behavior this week in my own classroom. We have a very diverse class and one day this week I had a new parent come to our room to tour and ask why there were so many "black kids" in our room compared to the other classrooms in the school. This threw me off completely and I was not sure how to respond for a quick second. I replied to her by saying that our class is a very diverse one and we welcome everyone into our room no matter their color. Our children vary from black, to white, to indian, to asian, and even those with dissabilities. In my class especially we accept all walks of life, and we teach our children respect.

 As I said before I was shocked and was not sure how to resond to the parent without being rude. Her comment really offended me. I was certainly glad thatt there were no other parents in the room at the time I can only imagine what would have happened.

My Family Culture

I have been evacuated from my home and told I can not return, I only to bring three item with me to represent me and my culture:
1.) A picture of my family in front of our Christmas tree.
     *I cherish this picture because it was the last picture of me and my family when I lived in  Colorado. It was the last Christmas that I spent with my family, and it was a time of thanks and a  time of sadness, as everyone knew I was leaving but we rejoiced in the fact that I was finally grown and moving away from home.

2.) The picture of my boyfriend and I at Halloween, dressed up for a party.
     * This represents that tradition that we have always done in my family and now with my new family of dressing up for Halloween to be silly and have fun with others around us. We celebrate Halloween as a holiday to eat candy and act like children, not as the traditional all hallows eve.

3.) A black stuffed teddy bear that was given to me at Christmas.
     * This bear was given to me as a gift when I was just hitting middle school and was torn between being a big kid and just a kid. I still loved the childish things of the years past but was changing and did not which way to go. This teddy bear has been through it all. He has been sewn multiple times re stuffed, and traveled all over the world with me, and means the world to me because it was from my Grandmother.

I would be absolutely heat broken if I was told that I could only keep one item. All three of these things mean so much to me and show who I am and how I was. I am still just a big kid and want my teddy bear, my family is my one and only, and my boyfriend is what i have to be thankful for in my life right now.

As far as learning about my family and my culture, i have always known who I am and what I represent. My family made sure that I knew these things at a very young age. I have always been told that God and family come first, after that you can make your own decisions.

concluding research

• What insights have you gained about research from taking this course?

I have seen that there is a lot more to doing research than simply looking up some sources. There are methods and various ways of going about finding the information needed. I now know that in order to have a proper research study that one must have a clear and consice question in mind and be able to narrow it down in order to find the answers that are needed.

• In what ways have your ideas about the nature of doing research changed?

As I stated before i now know that there is a lot more needed than to read some papers. I know that the ways we have been taught make research a little easier than simply googling some answers. These methods we have been given allow us to narrow down the search and look at the answers from different points of view.

• What lessons about planning, designing, and conducting research in early childhood did you learn?

I know that there has to be a plan. Before I would simply look up some information and call it a day. Now I have the understanding that in order to have all the information needed I need a game plan and an idea of how I want the research findings to turn out. I can see now that the process of studying someone or a group of people is a little more complicated than just watching and writting some notes. The more detailed you are with your observations or interviews the more likely it is that the research will be seen as valid.

• What were some of the challenges you encountered—and in what ways did you meet them?

Finding the information in general for my topic was difficult. I had to learn how to word the question to get the information I was looking for. It was not as simple as asking what color do children like the most. It was a process of using the correct words and in the correct order to get the information I needed.

• What are some of the ways your perceptions of an early childhood professional have been modified as a result of this course?

I can see that it takes a lot more than some schooling or just liking kids to be in the field and truly know what is going on and why it is happening. I can see that it takes more effort on the part of the professional to stay up on what they need to know about children and how they function and learn.

International Research

I looked at the website for austrailia. http://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au/ I found that many of the topics that are important to them are also relevant in the United States. some of the topics include; breastfeeding, childcare ratings, diversity among children, inclusion of children, and many more. I saw that the national quality standards were a big issue on this site. They seem to take the "accredidation" process very seriously there. It was good to see that we are not the only country that is focused in on the inclusion process of children. This is one thing that I believe will make or break a child in their school careers. Children need to feel included no matter their state. I also noticed that child health and obesity is another big topic in their country. This means to me that we as a human race need to stop and look at what we are feeding our children and how much we are denying them the abilities to actively play. This is something that i would like to look closer into and possibly try to find a way to helop parents understand that this is not ok and that our children are going to suffer in the long run.

Research that will benifit children...

If I could choose any topic within the early childhood field to research and it would have a positive outcome on the entire community, it would be behavioral problems in young children. I choose this topic because I lived with this issue for much of my life. My brother has had behavioral problems his whole life due to a severe brain injury he got when he was two. I know what it is like for children to be put through test after test, and the Doctors never come up with a correct diagnosis. I would run a study to make sure that children were not being passed over when there may be something seriously wrong. Too many children today are being diagnosed with ADD and ADHD, and I find that to be the "easy way out" for doctors and parents. A child who is two or three years old should not be given this diagnosis. The child is more than likely just acting their age and the partents do not know what else to do, so they run to the doctor and get a prescription for Ridlin to calm the child down. This makes it difficult for the next child that comes along who may have something more severe than ADD or ADHD. I had a child in my class years ago who was, for lack of better terms, terrible. This child was as sweet as could be when things were going his way or he was playing. When he lost his temper though he was capable of injuring even adults. He woudl throw chairs, tables, knock over shelves filled with toys, bite, punch, the list goes on. There was something about this boy that I was drawn to. I took him under my wing and played a little bit of favorites with him, so I coudl possibly point his mother in the right direction. Jeremy was three and there was no reason for him to be acting the way he was for no reason. After I took on this mission I found that there were triggers that would set him off and allow him to lose his temper. He had a very difficult time with transition and needed ample time to prepare himself for that to happen. I would always alert him when there was 10 minutes left of an activity and allow him to begin his own transition before the rest of the class. This helped him a great deal. It was not medication that he needed it was attention.
I want to run a study that would allow people to see that jumping to conclusions like ADD is not always the right choice. A child may simply need some extra TLC and some time to work things out for themselves.

My research topic

I decided to do the topic of when children begin to actually learn their colors, shapes, letters, numbers, etc... I narrowed the topic down to what I truly wish to research and put my effort into. I have noticed in my many years of working with children and in day care centers that children are attracted to certain colors. Before the age of two I have found that if you put multiples of the same toy in front of a child of different colors almost 99% of the time the child will go for the red toy. This is what I find to be curious. I know that as children age their site grows. i also know that when children are born they are color blind and red is a significant color that sticks out in their grayscale. I want to find out why children truly like the color red over any other color. I want to know that when children begin to learn their colors and shapes, etc... that they learn certain letters or numbers faster because they are in the color red. These are all small little experiments I have done in my own time and with different children in different ages. I want to know the reasoning behind this.

Final blog

There were many things that I learned from our international contacts. I learned that the United States is so focused on education and money that we have forgotten about the fundamentals of learning. We as a nation have forgotten about play. Even as adults we need to play (a different kind of play but play), we need to refocus our efforst on teaching children the basics while they are playig. If we continue to focus on education only and keep forcing academics on our children they will get burnt out and not want to learn at all. We need our children to be the future and in order for them to do this they need to be educated in a way that they enjoy it.
I have also learned that in many other countries their education system still incorporates morales and values. While we have a large melting pot of nationalities and traditions we still have nothing that we teach the children other than abc's and 123's. There needs to be some focus on ethics, or values that we hold as a nation. We teach right and wrong but never anyhthing that dates back to our ancestors unless its through family at home.
Another thing that I learned is that we have some of the same issues and trends as other countries. We have the basics of financial troubles, and trust in where we place our children. We have the education delima. We need our early childhood teachers to be educated in order to educate our children. This holds true both in Brazil and Haiti, the two countries I spoke with.

If I could choose only one goal I would have to choose more communication. If we could communicate more openly with other countries' educators we might have a chance at becoming more peaceful. If we coudl understand why other countries teach the things they do and if they could understand why we teach the things we do, we may all be able to come up with a way of creating and equalibrium in the early childhood field. The rules and standards vary so much in the united States alone, that if we could create a standardization across countries we could accomplish anything we wanted to.

I have enjoyed working with all of my classmates and wish them the best in their future classes and professions in the early childhood field, thank you to all who have responded and posed questions to me durring this course.

international contacts

I emailed my contact in haiti and recieved no response but Cintia from Brazil was more than willing to share her thoughts with me.
She stated that in her center they are doing a new program that requires all of the teachers to be certified and possess a certificate or a degree of some kind in the early childhood field. she said that this requires the school to help pay for some of the education that the teachers are lacking. Cintia saidf that this excited her because now she has an opportunity to go back to school and further her education. another requirment that is being instated is that the teachers are now allowed to focus more on their lessons that the children want. She said that it is much like a curriculum that allows the students to chose what they want to learn about. She said that this way feels more natural to her and is looking forward to this change.
As stated before the school now has to help provide so the teachers can further their education as to where before the center required only some college and first aid and cpr training.

I told Cintia that my 15 year plan is to open my own center and have it prosper. I want to offer a center where all children are welcome no matter their financial state. I want children to be offered a chance to shine and have the skills they need and more when they enter primary school. My short term plan is to apply for a newly opened position at work and become an administrator.
When I asked Cintia what she wanted to do she replied by saying that she too would like to offer all of those things to children but does not want to be in the administration or own her own center, she said that she simply wants to be the best teacher she can be and have the knowledge to be able to provide for her students in the ways that they need. She wants to have a work place where everyone is respected and valued for their skills as a teacher and not have to deal with the he said she said gossip that goes around.

NBDCI cont.

While I was looking around the site, I became disappointed because there was little I had not seen. They did not have many outside links to follow and not much on what we are studying this week. As I continued to search around I found an article that was in a newspaper about WalMart. As I often shop at WalMart and have heard pretty nasty things about them in the news lately I was intrigued, I followed the link and found that WalMart had donated $300,000 to the NBDCI to help promote healthy eating habits in American families. This was apart of a campaign done by Michelle Obama to help healthy eating habits become better known and more affordable.
One thing i did notice was the link that I talked about last time, the organization is offering a challenge to states to see who can have the highest percentage of licenced operating centers. This may have potential to relate to this weeks discussion, if a center is licenced, they may be in the running for being accessible and available to all walks of life. This may help promote their business and allow families to afford to take their children to daycare. This may create a new way to find excellence within daycare centers in your community and not just a Babysitting service.

I am sorry to say that there was not much else that related to our topic this week. I am a little disappointed with the site that I have chosen for this course. I thought it would be more informative and have links and potential to help the black communities and their families. The site or organization is doing wonderful things to help but has yet to show a lot of it on their website. Many things are the same from week to week. The most interesting thing about this site, to me, is the black history facts that are always listed on the side of the site page. Those change from day to day and I find them fascinating.

Brazil and Haiti

I spoke with Cintia, from Brazil, and she stated that in her country she notices that people are more concerned with keeping traditions alive than having children gain global knowledge in schools. She said that when a child enters a childcare center that they are not required to meet and type of standards tests or quarterly reviews like in America. The child does learn basics that help them on their way to primary school but the push for excellence is not as hard in her country. The people that fund the childcare systems in Brazil are mainly privateers and can set the standards of learning to whatever they wish. She also stated that while the curriculum is based very much on traditions that she has begun to notice a change in the last 2-3 years. The children are now more curious about what is around them and thus the system has begun to bring in a little bit of global thinking.

Sandra on the other hand, from Haiti, stated that the children in the childcare system are there because their parents want them to be able to make something of themselves and be able to provide for their family one day. The children that enter daycare, she said, are usually trying to avoid being another statistic and end up with some type of disease from roaming the streets. Sandra also said that the people of Haiti are currently still trying to clean up from the earthquake that devistated their country, and that any type of scheduled learning and hint of normalicy is good for the children. The people are still living in tents and trying to clear debrie from the island. When they send their children to daycare it allows the parents to get more done and be able to not have to worry about them running the streets or being in danger with all of the clean up.

To me it seems that the countries like America are the ones who are so severely worried about education and becoming a global threat, educationally. Many other countries wish for their childrento prosper and live healthy lives. We in America are too concerned with how much we know, how much we make, and how good we look to others.

National black child development institute

As I continue to explore this website, I find more and more information that could actually help my current employer to enroll more children. There is an initiative that this site as funded allowing either current teachers or those wishing to get involved in the program to get help financially in doing so. It is called T.E.A.C.H. Teacher education and compensation helps. This program has scholarships that could provide people with a chance to get a true education in early childhood. This would allow the system to have more qualified teachers and possibly start a phase where we are better prepared to teach our young children. I know that my current employer also has scholarships to offer to employees, but it just dawned on me that we could offer scholarships to parents who want to bring their children to our center but cannot afford it. This would make us a place that could promote education no matter the status of the family. It would allow every child to have an equal shot at an education and a high quality one at that.
    Entering the college zone is an initiative that allows parents of under-privileged middle school students to start preparing for college. This post made me stop and think that while this a great program and is much needed for those who may never have a chance to go to college, why not help everyone who wants to go to college? I heard on the news that in CO there was a law passed allowing illegal residence to go to a higher education institution for free. The reasoning behind this was to promote these people to become citizens and have a degree that would in turn promote our own economy. The theory is there but what about the rest of us who are legal residence and are struggling to go to school and further this country? it seems to me that the help for children who are underprivileged is needed but why not offer the help to everyone?
     There are 27 communities that are involved in the NBCDI, and their funding comes from many places. The government, donations, as well as private parties. To me this says that we want our children to succeed and in order for this to happen we need to support our early childhood education system. So many readings, journals, advertisements have shown that a child who starts their education in early childhood centers tend to do more in their lives and move on to become better things in life. If this were not true then why would companies like the Goddard schools be able to advertise and have so much promotion? For those 27 communities that are affiliated with this program, they are sending a message that we need our children to learn and the sooner they start the sooner they will be able to grasp what is important once they reach the age of public schools.

Poverty in Brazil

I have been in contact with two people from outside the U.S., One is from Haiti name Sandra and she is very informative and seems excited to talk with another person interested in the early childhood field. I also am speaking with Cintia from Brazil.
Sandra has offered me information about the hardships that the Haitian people face everyday. A lot of the information provided by her has been what we have already heard in the news. Her experience has been that most of the people she works with live in poverty as well as the people they serve. She said that there are not many programs in place that provide assistance to those in need. She said that compared to the pictures she has seen of the U.S. that her whole country is in poverty. I assured her that if all she has seen is prosperity and riches, that that is not all that America is. Our poverty is just as bad as others but being a nation that prides itself on being powerful those images are rarely seen to the outsiders. I asked her if there are any people in her country that are advocates for trying to get help for those who truly need it, she answered by simply saying no.

Cinita from Brazil is a sweet woman. She has actually called me and I have spoke with her. Her English is very good. She told me that in Brazil she has seen much poverty compared to America, (she has lived in America for a brief stint). She said that her early childhood centers do not have the abilities to provide all the things that we have in America. Cintia said that in the center she works in that there are many people of different origins, some wealthy, some poor, and some homeless. She also said that the programs that are in place in Brazil are from the government and are only available to a small few. The government does not provide like the American government. She said that she noticed while in the U.S. that what we consider to be poverty is life in Brazil. They do not consider living with multiple families under one roof, poverty,  they will share everything they can in her country. She loves the sense of community that she sees in her country.

All in all I can see that even though we have poverty in the U.S. that we do not understand the half of what real poverty is. We see that people who have a two bedroom apartment and three families living there are poor, but what we don't realized is that this maybe the way they live where they are from. The American dream, as everyone calls it, is just that, the American dream. As Americans we do not have the sense of community and the comrodery that other countries do. We are all about each man for himself. It's about who can out-do who. This to me makes me sad and shows me that we are truly a spoiled nation and selfish as well.

National Black Child Development Institute

National Black Child Development Institute
http://nbcdi.org/blog/category/early-childhood-education/

I have signed up for the news letter from this site, but have not yet receieved anything! I did however go through the website to look at some of the newly added content and found a side note that caught my attention.  One thing that caught my eye was on their page they have an update of "this week in black history", I am a natural history buff and loved that. Interesting facts they post. Another thing that caught my eye was their Parent Empowerment Project. This project reminded me of the Pastoral project in Paraguay. This first line of the desciption was, "PEP is a program that seeks to educate, motivate and inspire parents to excellence as their Child’s first teacher The National Black Child Development Institute (NBCDI) introduces an exciting curriculum for parent education." This is exactly what the Pastoral project was describing that they were trying to accomplish within their communitites. This project sounds wonderful, as there are so many children out there that need a parent. The fact that this site is trying to reach out to the parents to relay that they are their child's first teacher I see as amazing work.
I am eager to get my first newsletter and will keep all up to date on their progress.

Contact outside the United States

When I learned that we were to have contact with an early childhood educator outside the united states, I was really excited. I love learning about other cultures and how their children are taught differently than ours. I immediately contacted three educators outside the U.S. I contacted Germany, El Salvador, and Ghana. I was sad to learn that the Ghana email address was no longer working. I will continue to try to receive a response from other countries though.
The website that I decided to dive into was the National Black Child Development Institute. I thought that by learning how the minorities in our own country view early childhood education it may be easier to understand some of the ideas that I discuss with my future "pen pal" from outside the U.S. This group has been around for 40 years and has worked to improve the status of child welfare services. I found this to be fascinating. I liked this website because I currently work for a company that has three centers. One of which is for lower income families and I have seen the terrible things and emotional states of the children on the lower side of the economic realm, most of whom are of the black community. I do not care what color or race a child or person for that matter, is everyone deserves a fair shot at making something of themselves. I believe that children who are offered a chance to learn early in life that they will be better prepared to survive in the "real world" when it comes around to them.